Noah's Ark

Presentation

The latest family-friendly contemporary ballet co-production of Armel Opera Festival and the company of the InterEuropa Ballet presents a well-known momentum in the universal history of mankind, the survival of Noah, his family and the herd of animals gathered on the ark he built.

This time though the premiere of this all round European collaboration in music and dance does not focus on the main thread and characters of the biblical story, it presents events we can only make guesses about.

The protagonists are not the usual human characters but the representatives of the animal kingdom - who, despite their many differences, various appearances, lifestyle and habits have to tolerate and accept each other until the all-sweeping great flood is over.

The characters of the ballet are including adults and also children dancers, who are changing from country to country, giving the possibility to children to experience the work and the joy to take part in the work of creation.

Artistic Team

This production placed a great emphasis on diversity and international cooperation. The artistic team brought together to create this colorful ballet performance is another great example of this principle. What is also special about these artists is their unquestionable versatility in the truest sense of the world. Every single one of them is pursuing artistic activities other than their ‘official’ role in this production. The director-choreographer, Michael Kropf - once a ballet dancer himself - was born in Austria but can easily be called an honorary Hungarian. Other than the world of dance he worked in a number of fields, including sports (rhythmic gymnastics, figure skating), the world of circus and entertainment - making him exceptionally able to get his artistic ideas through in every environment. This is an essential quality for this ‘traveling’ production as he has to teach the roles to the ever changing childrens’ cast in each location. Our Russian-born composer, Pavel Singer has been living in Vienna for almost 3 decades. He traveled the world as a piano soloist but also holds a composer’s degree. He works in a number of music genres, but his stage works are mostly based on fairytales aimed at a children audience. To create the magical visual world of Noah’s Ark we chose Manfred Waba, one of the most renowned stage designers in Austria with an unmistakable style and imagination. A grandiose looking set, that can easily travel is an enormous challenge, but with his experience we can hope for a design that is dazzling and full of surprises. Mr. Waba also has a vast international experience, and worked on a number of musical pieces for children. The colorful animal costumes of Noah’s Ark will be created by Friederike Singer, our Viennese costume designer, who started out as a dancer herself but also studied piano, musicology, theater studies and folklore and is a successful painter.

Co-producing Partners